MOSCOW, March 5. /TASS/. Russia must create advanced military space satellites and certain research and development in this field is already in progress, Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said on Tuesday.

"Our task is to create modern satellites capable of providing still more accurate intelligence and map data. With this in mind we are conducting certain research and development. Progress in the work is on the agenda today," Shoigu said during a distance conference at the Defense Ministry on Tuesday.

He recalled that in his message to the Federal Assembly Russian President Vladimir Putin said that cardinal changes in the field of communication, navigation and remote sensing of the Earth required a dramatic increase in the capabilities of the satellite cluster.

"In this context the Defense Ministry is pushing ahead with the technological upgrade of military space satellites," Shoigu stated.

Earlier, he said that the experience of combat operations in Syria involving smart weapons required dramatic improvement of the group of military satellites capable of producing high resolution image of the Earth’s surface.